Love of Science and Lit
by Koharu Veddette
Summary: When Bruce is left alone with Tony's new secretary, sparks begin to fly over their loves of the classics and literature. Simple and cute and part of a commission from one of my friends over on deviantart.


"No, Will, I can't introduce you to Mr. Stark," Scarlett whispered into her cell phone in a hushed tone so those around her could not hear her, her eyes quickly glancing around the lobby that she was in to check and see if anyone had overheard what she had just said. She had signed a contract when she had started working for Stark Industries that she would not make it public knowledge that she worked for Tony Stark as a personal assistant, so being in the middle of a lobby full of people she did not know made her nervous about breaking that contract. She did not want to do that since this was the best job she could have gotten with the qualifications she currently had. The part of her that was not being paranoid about losing her job was amused by her step father's asking to meet Tony Stark when he knew full well that she could not do that, but it come to be like a joke to them that he would ask whenever he called to chat with her.

"Ah, at least tell the man to give you time off to come see us for the holidays," her step father drawled at her in a low tone that tugged at Scarlett's heartstrings more than he would ever know. Scarlett bit her lip at Wiliam's request, wishing that she could fulfill it but knowing full well that Tony being called in by SHIELD meant that she was going to work long and hard hours with no hope of getting the time off that was needed to visit her family. In the time she had been working for Stark Industries, first for Ms. Potts and then being transferred to work for Tony, she knew holidays were a rarity if work was to be done and SHIELD being involved always meant that there was work to be done.

"Miss Montgomery, you should not be on that cell phone," a soft, but firm voice caused Scarlett to jumped and snap her phone closed without thinking about it. Scarlett whirled around to see that it had been a small, but imposing woman who had spoken to her, a woman that she recognized to be Fury's right hand woman, though she didn't recall her name. Scarlett stammered out an apology as the woman stared at her before the slightly smaller brunette gave her a swift nod and motioned for her to follow her. "If you must make a call to off site personnel, then please go to the communications bay. Mr. Stark may be your boss, but we do try to keep a tight ship around here."

"Yes ma'am," Scarlett murmured as she followed after the woman all the way back to the lab where Tony was already deeply immersed into the work the SHIELD was having him do this time around. The woman gave a nod to her at the door before she left Scarlet to return to her boss on her own. Scarlett paused outside the heavy duty door that would lead her down into the labs of the helicarrier, her free hand raising to gently touch her voluminous brunette hair to make sure that every hair was in place. While she tried to excuse the action by saying she had to look professional while in the presence of her boss, as friendly as he might be, but her rapidly beating heart and sudden clumsiness with the files she had in her arm gave way the fact that there was more to what she was doing than a simple visit with her boss and his fellow scientist that was currently working with him. She glanced around herself quickly to make sure a spare SHIELD agent, especially that stoic woman, had not seen her make sure she looked alright before she opened the door with her ID and slipped in before she did get caught.

Tony Stark was leaning over something so small Scarlett was unsure what it even was he was working on with JARVIS working a top speed right within view of his station, the screen changing so quickly that Scarlett couldn't catch what each of the screens said before they disappeared. Bruce Banner, on the other hand, seemed to sitting back with a book in his hand and his glasses slowly slipping off his nose as he read whatever the thick book was about, seemingly taking it easy as comparison to what Tony was doing.

"Miss Scarlett with the knife in the dining room," Tony called to her with a chuckle giving a musical, humorous tone to his voice as he absently pointed the screwdriver-like object in his hand at her. Scarlett restrained herself from rolling her eyes at her boss, having gotten used to his odd way of greeting her after experiencing the multiple, and increasingly obscure, CLUE references. Without a word of response, she crossed the room to him and placed several of the files in her arms at the edge of his work table, leaving him a generous amount of space to continue working in.

"Director Fury wants you to take a look at these files before the end of the day so he can discuss the possibility of moving forward with SHIELD's new line of defense," she explained to him the best she could with the limited amount of information she was allowed to know. There was something odd about working on a top secret government base and not really knowing anything that was going on due to not having the right level of security clearance for anyone to talk to her about anything more than what food was being served and what the weather was like outside, and even then the information was brief and in clipped tones. It wasn't that the SHIELD agents disliked her, not that she was aware of anyway, it was more like they didn't know how to talk to a civilian after spending so much time with other agents. She actually found that many of the SHIELD agents were quite friendly people so long as you didn't accidentally bring up topics like what it was they did on the ship or where they thought they were going to land.

"There's also supposed to be a vegan casserole on the menu for tonight's dinner if you want me to reserve some to be brought to you, Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner," Scarlett informed the two scientists with a thin smile, knowing full well that they would have ignored whatever the cafeteria had to offer if she did not make plans ahead of time to have food brought to them.

"Vegan food? Really Montgomery?" Tony scoffed at her, actually glancing up from his work to give a raised eyebrow at her. Scarlett couldn't help but to roll her eyes at him this time. He knew full well that Miss Potts had instructed her to make sure he at whatever was healthy that was being served instead of the pile of fast food he would live off of if it was up to him. While she didn't really care either way, orders were orders and she had been hired by Miss Potts to watch over Tony for her.

"It is the casserole or fried chicken tonight and Miss Potts would really prefer for you to eat healthier food, so I will go order the casserole for you," she told him sternly, preferring him to be grumpy and upset at her than to go against Miss Potts and possibly lose her job over a small choice like this.

Before an argument could begin, Scarlett seeing Tony tense at the mention of his girlfriend and lead manager trying to use her to take care of him, an alarm began to ring from one of the screens.

"Stark, suit up," Fury's brisk voice came from the screen that was facing away from Scarlett. Tony shot a glare at the screen before standing, pushing his current work into a pile in the middle of the table with grumbles under his breath.

"I want the chicken, Montgomery," Tony muttered to her as he passed by her to leave the lab, leaving Scarlett grateful that the doors were automatic since she was sure he would have slammed the door if he could.

"If it helps, I wouldn't mind having the casserole," Bruce spoke up for the first time since she had entered the room, almost making her jump from the unexpected noise. She had almost completely forgotten that Dr. Banner had been in the room while she had argued with Tony and now her face flushed from the realization that he had witnessed the completely unprofessional behavior she had displayed. Scarlett respected Dr. Banner greatly for the fact that he was one of the leading scientists in his field, but also for the fact that he had such title while still managing his alter ego on a daily basis. If Tony hadn't said anything or made any of his little jabs at Dr. Banner, Scarlett wouldn't have even realized that the large green monster she had seen in the news was Dr. Banner.

"Thank you, Dr. Banner," Scarlett finally replied in a tight voice with an even tighter smile towards the laid back scientist. He frowned briefly at her before he turned back to his book, shifting so Scarlett could see the title of the book.

"I didn't know you were a fan of Victor Hugo," she said without thinking, recognizing the simple, but somehow intricate cover of Les Miserables even from a glance.

"Th-This is my first time reading it, actually," Dr. Banner informed her with a quiet clearing of his throat. Scarlett bit her tongue from saying anything about the book then, knowing the disappointment that can come from someone ruining the details of what happens, especially in a book like Les Miserables where so much occurs in so little time. With a soft thud, Bruce closed the book and placed it on one of the work benches near him, settling back more comfortably in his chair with a faint smile playing at his lips.

"Steve wanted to catch up on some of the biggest movies that had come out recently and for some unfathomable reason Tony decided that Les Mis was a perfect movie to show him," he explained to her, seemingly quite comfortable in their conversation when the two didn't normally say more than a few sentences to each other at any given time. "Mind you that this was after showing him the full Star Wars series."

"You showed Captain America Star Wars?" Scarlett laughed in disbelief, unsure what was more amusing to her, Tony actually managing to sit through the entirety of Les Mis or Captain America's reaction to movies like Star Wars. She probably would have paid good money to be able to see a sight like that with her own eyes, but something about spending more time with her boss than she had to just put her off the idea of movie night with Captain America.

Bruce smiled even larger at her, giving a light chuckle of his own as he motioned towards one of the few stools in the lab. Scarlett hesitated for just a second before she slid into the seat and decided that she might as well get to know the other scientist a bit more while she had a break instead of just standing around and waiting on Tony to come back.

The two continued to chat about various things as time moved on around them. Scarlett discovered that Bruce actually enjoyed many of the classic things that she did and had a natural ability to make conversation comfortable, even when the two of them didn't really know each other very much. She was absolutely amazed at everything they managed to talk about, smoothly moving from topic to topic with so little effort or thought on either of their parts. It wasn't until the door seemed to slam open even on its automatic track that either of them moved from their seats.

Scarlett was forced from her seat as Tony came barging back into the lab, flinging off components of his suit as he went. Scarlett marveled for a moment at how each piece seemed to fold up into tiny pieces before they shot off on their own accord towards a box in the corner. She knew that Tony liked his own form of efficiency, but objects flying on their own towards where they belong was beyond efficiency. If only he would make it so other people could use that same technology. She watched as Tony threw himself back into the seat he had occupied before his mission, his face getting flung with equal force into his hands. The lab was complete silence while Bruce and Scarlett seemed to wait with held breath for Tony to do something.

"I'd rather you didn't just stare at me," Tony snapped at the two of them before looking up with an exceptionally tired look on his face, an expression that Scarlett would never have believed could come from the man. His worn eyes seemed glazed over as they searched over her and then over Bruce, his eyes lingering on Bruce for a moment. "What happened while I was gone?"

"I'd rather know your answer to that," Bruce told him with a raised eyebrow, a subtly concerned expression ghosting over his face.

"Just a dead end mission," Tony said quickly with a wave of his hand as if wiping away the question. He leaned forward to get a closer look at his secretary and close friend with narrowed eyes. "Now what happened with you two?"

"Nothing happened," Scarlett said quickly, almost too quickly for just how innocent their conversation really had been before his arrival.

"Doesn't sound like nothing, Miss Scarlett," Tony seemed to accuse her, a grin forming on his face as he leaned forward on the table before him. "You're a little too defensive for it to be nothing. Don't tell me you've got a little crush on the good Doctor here?"

"M-Mr. Stark!" Scarlett stammered out as her face flushed brightly and she found herself unable to turn towards Bruce just as Bruce seemed to fall completely out of his seat and onto the floor. Tony looked between the two and began to laugh loudly, the worn expression completely melting away in the face of teasing the two.

"Oh, you are just priceless," he chuckled as his laughter calmed down, feigning a tear being wiped away. "Like Brucey even has the gall to ask someone out, so don't you worry Montgomery. You're safe from him."

"Tony!" Bruce barked at his close friend, sending a slight glare towards the other dark haired man and fellow Avenger as he made his way to his feet once again.

"I'm just teasing Bruce," Tony defended himself, raising his hands in a sign of falling back from the argument. He turned away from the two in order to examine the screen before him once again. "I'm bored with it anyway, so don't get upset at me anymore."

Bruce seemed to let out a soft growl at Tony's nonchalant attitude, shaking his head in exasperation. He turned back to Scarlett, lowering his head to pinch the bridge of his nose in order to help calm himself from Tony's irritation.

"I'm sorry for him, Miss Scarlett," he apologized softly, his voice dropping to a volume that suggested he did not want to be overheard. Scarlett simply shook her head and smiled at him, brushing off her boss' teasing as if it didn't happen, even though she was now acutely aware of Tony just in case he was going to use them talking as more ammo later on. "Tony means well, but he doesn't understand when his jokes go too far."

"That's okay, Dr. Banner, I was warned by Miss Potts about Mr. Stark's," Scarlett had to pause in order to try and come up with a proper word for exactly what Tony seemed to be doing. It wasn't that he was simply joking or teasing or even fooling around. She sighed and gave a shrug in defeat, finishing lamely with an "Antics."

"He wasn't wrong, though," Bruce murmured quietly, barely above a whisper so even Scarlett had a hard time hearing him. Scarlett actually gave a start at his words, blinking at him as if he had grown a second head. Bruce cleared his throat and actually managed to look away abashed, running a hand through his thick curls. "I wouldn't have minded if something happened while he was gone."

"L-Like what?" Scarlett stammered, her heart beat rising quickly like she had just taken a lap around the lab and settling at a race speed in her throat. She tried to swallow it down back into her chest, but it wouldn't budge from her throat. Her thoughts seemed to get fuzzy at the very idea that he might be coming on to her right now, something she hadn't even dreamed about when they had just been chatting earlier.

"Maybe I meant to ask you for a date?" Bruce told her softly, a small smile gracing his face as he looked at her from the corner of his eye. "After we get off this contraption of course."

"O-Of course!" Scarlett said excitedly, perking up once it actually clicked that he had just asked her on a date. She grinned at him and received a broad smile in return, neither of them noticing that Tony was grinning into his screen after listening in to their conversation the entire time.


End file.
